Click here for the 2018 ACCG Policy Agenda recommendations made by the association's seven policy committees.  These recommendations will be reviewed by ACCG's Policy Council on September 22^nd in Macon/Bibb County.

The Policy Council will then set the 2018 ACCG Policy Agenda to be voted on by the full membership at the Legislative Leadership Conference (LLC) in Augusta/Richmond County on Thursday, October 12th at 1:30 p.m.

It is important that you review these committee recommendations by noon on Thursday, September 21^st.  

If you would like to amend a policy recommendation, you may do so by:

1.      Using this amendment form;

2.     Contacting a member of the Policy Council (click here for their contact information).

Note: All amendments should be submitted by noon on Thursday, September 21^st.

The primary charge of the Legislative Leadership Conference is for Georgia's county commissioners to consider policies to be adopted by the ACCG membership and other business that may come before the body. County commissioners will vote on the 2018 Legislative Agenda and Priorities during the business session on Thursday, Oct. 12, at 1:30 p.m. Please be sure to appoint your county voting delegate by Friday, Sept. 22, to ensure your county is represented during this important session.

Click here to obtain the voting delegate form. All forms should be scanned as an email attachment and sent to Nicole Butler (nbutler@accg.org) or faxed to (404) 525 -2477 addressed to her attention.

While many in Texas are still reeling from Hurricane Harvey, another Hurricane – Hurricane Irma – is headed towards the United States. While it is too early to tell Irma’s impact, those potentially in its path should make preparations for possible landfall. Courtesy of the ACCG – Interlocal Risk Management Agency (IRMA), see the attached Hurricane Checklist on how to deal with the hurricane before, during and after the event.

GEFA will open the solicitation period for the 2018 Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds (SRF) on October 2, 2017, at 9:00 a.m.

The SRFs provide low-interest financing for publicly-owned water and wastewater projects. Applications for 2018 SRF financing should be submitted during the solicitation period. Eligible projects will be considered for inclusion on the 2018 Clean Water or Drinking Water Intended Use Plan (IUP).

For the 2018 solicitation, there are some important updates to the project ranking criteria:

• Eligibility for principal forgiveness will focus on affordability criteria from the U.S. Census Bureau:
• Median household income below or equal to $39,696
• Population decreased or remained the same
• Unemployment rate of 6 percent or higher
• Project type was removed from the affordability criteria.
• Emphasis on small systems (defined as 10,000 or fewer customers) and projects that have a public health compliance benefit. 

Online pre-applications will be accepted from October 2, 2017, through December 29, 2017, at gefa.georgia.gov. For more information, call 404-584-1000 or email publicaffairs@gefa.ga.gov.

The first-ever national Rail Safety Week, a joint effort by the U.S. Department of Transportation and the national rail safety education nonprofit Operation Lifesaver, Inc. (OLI), will take place September 24-30, 2017. Believe it or not, a person or vehicle in the U.S. is hit by a train about every three hours. In fact, 95 percent of all rail-related deaths involve drivers going through a crossing or a person on the tracks. The goal of the week is to raise awareness, encourage rail safety education and empower the public to make smart decisions near railroad crossings. 

For railroads, safety is an all-year, round-the-clock priority. Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) statistics announced earlier this year show that 2016 was the safest year on record for freight railroads. Last year not only marked the lowest train accident rate on record, but likewise the lowest derailment rate, which declined 10 percent from 2015. These gains are not anomalies, but examples of how steady rail investment pays safety dividends. For example, since railroads were economically deregulated in 1980, they have spent over $630 billion and the train accident rate has decreased 79 percent.

Christy Sammon is a State Director at GoRail, a national non-profit promoting the benefits of freight railroads.  She can be reached at csammon@gorail.org